MAY 2019 | SARASOTA SCENE
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The actors in the Bradenton Junior Women’s Club who
hardly have imagined
that their nascent community theater group, the Manatee
production powerhouse more
than 300 volunteers strong.
Much changed over seven decades. In addition
to its legion of unpaid actors and backstage crew, the
organization now employs nine full-time and six parttime
staffers and contracts with about 70 professionals
a year to oversee directing, lighting, scenery, and more.
Manatee Players runs two summer camps for kids, as well
as workshops and classes for theaterphiles who range in
age from 6 to 98, says producing artistic director Rick Kirby.
The most visible manifestation of success, the Manatee
Performing Arts Center, welcomed its first audience
in 2013 and encompasses Stone Hall (the main stage
theater), Bradenton Kiwanis Theater, Rae’s Cabaret in the
lobby, and the Kiwanis Ballroom. The facility is available
not just for top-billed shows but for wedding receptions,
conferences, and school recitals.
“I’ve seen us come a really long way lot of great ideas that we couldn’t Kirby, who joined the organizations beginning
of the millennium. “Now we’re sitting in a $20 million
house. It’s a measure and made it happen.”
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to the vision. “We also look at other successes in our
community and mirror some of those programs,” says
Amick. “Now we’re incorporating more tribute concerts
and more opportunities for live music.”
Musicals are “what our patrons really love,” says Kirby,
who determines the theatrical program. The Broadway
Series plays in Stone Hall. West Side Story plays it cool in
August, for instance, and It’s A Wonderful Life heartwarms
in December. Damn Yankees opens in February 2020,
only with a twist; Kirby has arranged with the licensing
agencies to make the Pittsburgh Pirates, who spring-train
in Bradenton, the featured team. For the Studio Series in
the smaller Bradenton Kiwanis Theater, Kirby picks works
with high emotion and social impact (Tuesdays with Morrie,
for instance, in October) and scripts with a challenge that
excites actors (Doubt, A Parable, March 2020).
Taking a front- or back-stage role in a Manatee Players
show is a “labor of love,” Amick says. High school students
planning to major in theater in college gain experience for
folks, it’s a way to give back to the community,” Amick
organization, so this is their way of making that donation.
And
people will support a neighbor by buying a ticket
to see them perform.”
Kirby marvels at the actors who audition. Last November’s
ecstatically reviewed Cabaret drew its stars from Tampa
(the emcee) and Orlando (Cliff). “I feel incredibly lucky
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